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WHOI Waypoints: Federal Funding for Ocean Science Remains Tight

Oceanographers are struggling to find light at the end of the
funding tunnel, as federal spending on ocean science remained relatively flat
in 2004 and is expected to just keep pace with inflation in 2005. WHOI is
heavily reliant on federal funding to conduct ocean research.

The 2004 budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF) rose 5
percent, to $5.6 billion, but funding for the ocean science and earth science
directorates grew by 3 percent, just ahead of the national inflation rate. WHOI
receives about 40 percent of its science and facility funding through grants
and contracts written by Institution investigators to NSF.

The Bush Administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2005
(which begins in October 2004) includes a number of increases and decreases
that would affect WHOI. The overall funding request for NSF was raised to $5.75
billion, an increase of
3 percent over the 2004 level. However, increases in the agency’s ocean
sciences and earth sciences programs stand at roughly 2 percent, just below the
national inflation rate.

Funding for several major ocean science initiativesincluding the
International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), the Ocean Observatories Initiative
(OOI), and the Oceanographic Fleet Renewalhas been repeatedly postponed over
the past few years. So it was a pleasant surprise when the President requested
$40 million in 2005 for IODP, which seeks to understand the fundamental
mechanics and history of the seafloor. (The current drill ship, Resolution,
will be replaced or refitted with more modern equipment.) The President’s 2005
budget request also suggested that OOI could be funded next year.

This good news is tempered by proposed cuts at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds 8 to 10 percent of WHOI
science. Budgets for peer-reviewed research outside federal labs would be
reduced by 30 percent, and programs in harmful algal blooms, ecosystem science,
and climate change would be substantially reduced.

Similarly, funding from the U.S. Navywhich typically supplies
about 20 percent of WHOI’s science and facility incomecontinues to drop. While
the overall Department of Defense budget is expected to grow by $20 billion in
2005, funding for science and technology will drop by 15 percentmore than 20
percent in naval research related to oceanography.

In a review of the President’s 2005 budget request, the Science
Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives called proposed funding for
basic research “insufficient,” noting that while spending on defense and
medical research is booming, most federal science programs are barely keeping
pace with inflation.

“We must not overlook the fact that scientific research and
development underpins our economic and national security,” said Representative
Vernon Ehlers (R-Michigan), a member of the Science Committee. “Scientific
research and development...is an investment that promises, and has historically
delivered, significant returns.”

For several years, Congress has been working to double the budget
for NSF, hailing it as an investment in economic competitiveness. In fact,
Congress passed legislation in 2002 to increase funding for NSF from $4.8
billion in 2002 to $9.8 billion by 2007. But a lack of support from the
Executive Branch has kept NSF appropriations from increasing substantially.

“We should be honest with ourselves: outside the scientific
community, there is no hue and cry for more government funding of R&D,”
said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota). “It’s unlikely that
the science gap growing between the United States and other developed nations
will become a major issue in the upcoming presidential campaign.”

“We have not done enough to show the American people the
connection between the work underway in your laboratories and the problems that
affect their lives,” Daschle added. “This must change. When rumors of a Nazi
bomb program reached President Roosevelt, he said simply, ‘Whatever the enemy
may be planning, American science will be equal to the challenge.’ Will future
presidents be able to speak with such confidence?”

Originally published: July 1, 2004

WHOI is the world's leading non-profit oceanographic research organization. Our mission is to explore and understand the ocean and to educate scientists, students, decision-makers, and the public.